Tag: French

Book Review: “Crecy: Battle of Five Kings” by Michael Livingston

On By hmalagisiIn Book Reviews2 Comments

The year is 1346 and war has just begun between France and England. This conflict would be known as the Hundred Years War, which lasted over 116 years and ended in failure for the English. However, some glorious moments like Agincourt gave the English cause to celebrate, but none more so than the Battle of Crecy. It was a colossal battle between five European kings, leaving countless dead on the field without many long-term rewards. So how did the French and English armies meet on the field of Crecy and what truly happened? Michael Livingston dives deep into the archives and archaeological research to tell the truth of this famous battle in his book, “Crecy: Battle of Five Kings.”

I first heard about this title from a post by Dan Jones singing the praises of this book. I have heard about Crecy from books that I have read, albeit as a side note for the other storylines, so when I learned that there would be a new book about the battle, I jumped at a chance to read it.

Before we dive into the bulk of the conflict, we must understand the challenges of investigating a battle that happened centuries ago. Livingston explains that we must take the more traditional story of this battle with a grain of salt, especially regarding the death totals and the location of the fighting as they were more susceptible to alterations. We also must understand that the issue of biases comes into play and that every writer has a different motive for recording what they do and why some accounts were remembered and others lost to the past.

Livingston then dives into the origins of the conflict, the Hundred Years’ War, starting with the Norman Conquest and exploring how things like wine and wool led to England’s desire to capture the French crown. It is an extraordinary tale, but so were the marches by the English army, led by Edward III and his son the Black Prince, and the French army under the command of King Philippe VI, Charles II Count of Alencon, and King John (the Blind) of Bohemia. What I found fascinating is the different approaches that the French and English armies took on their road to Crecy and what they considered important during their campaigns. Finally, Livingston takes the time to focus on the battle itself, what we know about the battle, including the capture of the Black Prince and the death of King John of Bohemia, and the location where he believes the battle was fought.

This was my first time reading a book by Michael Livingston and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Livingston does a fantastic job of explaining his thought process when it comes to his theories on this important battle while also making it accessible to his audience. I learned so much about the battle, the campaigns of the French and English leading up to the battle, and how to re-examine a medieval battle. If you are a medievalist or just a medieval history nerd, “Crecy: Battle of Five Kings” by Michael Livingston is the book for you.

Book Review: “Anne Boleyn, An Illustrated Life of Henry VIII’s Queen” by Roland Hui

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

Anne Boleyn IllustratedThe wives of King Henry VIII have been discussed for centuries in length through novels and nonfiction books. Katherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr are all very popular queens, but there is one that you have all been waiting for, the most famous Tudor queen, Anne Boleyn. Her story has been told so many different ways by historians and historical fiction authors for centuries, and now it is time for another historian to write their spin on her story. In his latest book, “Anne Boleyn, An Illustrated Life of Henry VIII’s Queen,” Roland Hui paints a picture of the tumultuous life, love life, and death of Anne Boleyn.

Thank you, Pen and Sword Books and Net Galley, for sending me a copy of this book. I am always looking for a new approach to the lives of the Tudors in books, and when I heard about this title, it caught my eye.

Like so many books about Anne Boleyn, this biography covers Anne’s childhood, her reign and rocky relationship with Henry VIII, her tragic downfall, and her gruesome execution. Hui begins with the origins of the Boleyn family and Anne Boleyn’s childhood. I am glad Hui decided to focus on Anne’s upbringing in the court of Margaret of Austria because this is the aspect that I was always curious about when it came to Anne. We often talk about how the French court shaped Anne’s upbringing, but Hui shows his readers that the Burgundian court was just as transformative and impacted her life.

This book focuses on the relationship between Anne and Henry VIII and how she helped influence his reign, especially regarding religious matters. With the Great Matter and the creation of the Church of England alongside the rise of the English Reformation, we see Anne Boleyn’s opinions on religious matters. Anne had books written by humanists and reformers like Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples, Johannes Brenz, Simon Fish, and William Tyndale. She also surrounded herself with men like Nicholas Bourbon, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Shaxton, William Betts, William Latymer, and John Skip. Finally, Hui discusses how Anne Boleyn fell from her husband’s good favor and was executed.

This is an excellent book to introduce people to the story of Anne Boleyn, as you can easily read it in one sitting. I found some of the material in this book repetitive compared to other books about Anne Boleyn, but Hui does lift it with new facts and the images he includes in this book. Overall, I did enjoy the new information Hui had in his nonfiction book. If you are a fan of Anne Boleyn and want to learn new facts about her life, I suggest you check “Anne Boleyn, An Illustrated Life of Henry VIII’s Queen” by Roland Hui.

Book Review: “Heartstone” by C.J. Sansom

On By hmalagisiIn Book Reviews1 Comment

10236742

The year is 1545 and King Henry VIII has declared war on the French. However, things do not go well when Henry VIII’s invasion of France is an epic failure and the French decide to retaliate by sending a mighty fleet to invade England. Catherine Parr is on a mission of her own and enlists the help of Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak to investigate the wardship of Hugh Curtey, who is under the protection of Sir Nicholas Hobbey. Of course, Shardlake never makes anything easy for himself and he takes another case of Ellen Fettiplace, a woman he met while at Bedlam. With the prospect of a French invasion looming over their head, can Shardlake and Barak solve both cases before the French and the English can start fighting? This is the scenario of C.J. Sansom’s fifth Shardlake mystery, “Heartstone”.

Unlike the fourth book, I did not know what the title of this book was referring to so I was going into this one blind, which I love. All I knew was that it involved Shardlake and Barak, so I had to jump in. I don’t usually fangirl over historical fiction characters, but Sansom has made me love the escapades of Shardlake and Barak.

We dive into this particular novel with a rather happy, yet stressful time for Barak and his wife Tamasin. They are expecting their second child any day now, which after the events of “Revelation” you are rooting for them. Of course, being Barak, he causes a bit of trouble with a military officer and finds himself in a bind. Luckily, it is at this time that Matthew gets a case from his new patron, Catherine Parr, and he desperately needs Barak’s help. The case involves a ward named Hugh Curtey and his estates possibly being mismanaged by his protector Sir Nicholas Hobbey. Matthew takes this case and decides that while he is in the area, he will explore the mysterious back story of a woman who he befriended while working at Bedlam a few years ago, Ellen Fettiplace.

These two cases seem like they could not be more different, however, they push Shardlake and Barak on a collision course with Shardlake’s arch-nemesis, Sir Richard Rich. I did not like Richard Rich in the previous novels, but the way Sansom portrayed him in this one made my skin crawl and now I loath him. His actions and the actions of others involved in both cases lead to Shardlake and Barak becoming mixed in the middle of the battle between the French and the English. The way that Sansom times the cases to coincide with the sinking of The Mary Rose is nothing short of brilliant.

If I did have a concern about this novel, I would say that the pacing in the middle was a bit slower than what I was anticipating. That is not to say that it distracted me, but it kept me guessing what Sansom had in store for Shardlake and Barak. I have become attached to these characters and every time they are put in mortal danger, I hope that they do not die.
Sansom can blend the two cases with military movements and the French invasion to heighten the danger and intrigue. Just when I think Sansom cannot do anything to love his bold and daring characters, he writes this novel. I am excited to see what kind of dangerous mission Shardlake and Barak will take on next, but I know that it means that I will have to say goodbye to these characters sooner, and I am not ready to be done with the Shardlake mysteries and these wonderful characters just yet. If you are like me and are addicted to the Shardlake mysteries, you need to read, “Heartstone” by C.J. Sansom.

Movie Review: “The King”

On By hmalagisiIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

MV5BOGZhMWFhMTAtNGM3Ni00MTdhLTg3NmMtMDViYTc5ODVkZWVlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkxNjUyNQ@@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,674,1000_AL_There is a new film that has been getting a lot of hype lately and that is based on the story of King Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt. Starring Timothee Chalamet as the main protagonist King Henry V, “The King” on Netflix is the latest historical drama movie that has come out this year. From the trailers and the information that we learned about the film before it was released, I was really intrigued, so I decided to watch it this weekend. Since there were a lot of things I wanted to discuss, I have decided to write a sort of movie review for “The King”.

The film starts with trouble brewing between King Henry IV (Ben Mendelsohn), the usurper King who is dying, and Henry “Hotspur” Percy. We are introduced to Henry V as a young Prince of Wales who simply wants to cause havoc, drink, and have fun with his friends. When I first saw Timothee Chalamet in this role, I felt like he was a moody teenager who could care less about his country or his father, who he, for some reason, hates. Henry IV decides that Henry, also known as “Hal”, is not good enough to be king, so he is replaced by his younger brother, Thomas of Lancaster. This is so odd because from what we know of this time, Henry IV trusted Henry V to take care of England while he was ill.

The angsty prince “Hal” leaves and decides to hang out with his best friend, Sir John Falstaff (Joel Edgerton), who would become one of his closest allies. Falstaff would be there for Hal after he killed Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury, which in this film turns out to be a fistfight with a knife between the two men, which is won by Henry V naturally. It felt kind of awkward, especially when you notice that Thomas Beaufort (also known as Dorset in the film) is on the sideline supporting Hotspur instead of Henry V. Beaufort was extremely loyal to Henry V throughout his reign. It was here where Henry V got his noticeable scar from an arrow that hit him in the face, but the film really doesn’t show the scar.

After his brother Thomas dies off-screen, Henry V becomes King after his father dies. The coronation scene, albeit short, looked somewhat accurate, which is a plus. As king, Henry is unsure of his abilities and relies on men who he considers his allies. Those who do study this time period know that Henry V was known as a warrior king, yet for some reason, the director of this film wanted to make Henry rather a pacificist. He wants to get along with the French rather than go to war with them. This was the middle of the Hundred Years’ War. England hated France and vice versa. For this young king to want to make peace with the French was unheard of and so out of character for what we know about King Henry V. I really did not agree with this call.

It was not until after there were several attempts on Henry’s life by the French that Henry finally decides to attack France directly. It is here in the battles and sieges that Henry V would gain his warrior king title and I think that the film does a pretty good job showing some of the aspects of the invasion of France. The use of trebuchets for the siege scene was just fun to watch, even though this was just one siege of perhaps dozens that happened during the invasion. While we are in France, we are introduced to Robert Pattinson’s character the Dauphin of France. This might sound controversial, but I wasn’t impressed with his portrayal of the Dauphin. I felt like his accent felt fake, almost like he was mocking the French, and I didn’t see why he needed to have his hair dyed blond. Pattinson’s character was more of a buffoon than a serious adversary. Another thing that irked me was when Henry knelt in front of the Dauphin. Henry is a King. The Dauphin was a French Prince. It seemed really odd to do this since they were adversaries.

To me, the biggest highlight of this film was the actual Battle of Agincourt. The conditions of the field of battle were a muddy mess with the French at an advantage. The English marching in their suits of armor towards their enemy while the archers were in the back, raining arrows down on the French. Seeing Henry and Falstaff fighting in the mud with their men. It felt like it truly honored the battle well. The one issue I had with it was when Henry and Falstaff took off their helmets. I was literally yelling at them to put their helmets back on. It is one thing to see an actor’s face when they are doing a battle scene, but this just seemed utterly ridiculous to me.

A few more side notes that I wanted to include. I think the soundtrack of this film was wonderful and really captured the mood of the film. They used a lot of daggers and battle-axes instead of swords when it came to fighting one on one. The costumes felt appropriate, but the colors of the outfits felt rather mute with greys, blacks, blues, and shades of white. There were points where I thought that Chalamet was wearing a pair of jean like pants and a hoodie under his chain mail, but it might have just been me. I wanted a touch more color. The scenery was fantastic and really gave a medieval feel to the film. Finally, I wanted more Catherine of Valois (Lily-Rose Depp). We see her at the very end of the film, but I wanted more interaction between Catherine and Henry.

Overall, I actually really enjoyed “The King”. It kind of shocked me because I thought that I was going to sit through the movie and nitpick so much that I wouldn’t enjoy the film. Yet I did. It is definitely not historically accurate, but it blends the Shakespearean plays and historical information into something new. If you want a completely accurate film about Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt, this might not be the film for you. However, if you want a different interpretation of Henry V and Agincourt just for fun, “The King” on Netflix is a film that you should check out.